After rough night, Tejada to sit in favor of Castillo
The Mets committed themselves to using Ruben Tejada as their everyday second baseman when the 20-year-old rookie was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo along with Fernando Martinez on Aug. 7.
But Tejada is having trouble holding up his end of the deal from an offensive standpoint, and after another rough night in the Mets' 4-0 loss to the Phillies, manager Jerry Manuel said he will start Luis Castillo for today's series finale.
Tejada went 0-for-2 last night, stretching his personal skid to 0-for-24, before Castillo pinch hit for him in the eighth inning. Tejada is now batting .073 (4-for-55) in his last 20 games in the majors. Before last night's loss, Manuel sounded confident that Tejada could make up for those shortcomings with his defense, but even his glove was a problem this time.
With one out in the fifth and runners at first and second, Tejada scooped a double-play grounder and flung the ball past Jose Reyes into leftfield for a run-scoring error. On top of that, Placido Polanco bowled into Reyes, who was slow getting up, but appeared to be OK.
"I just tried to throw the ball too fast to second base," Tejada said. "It's part of the game."
Tejada doesn't seem too affected by his swoon. He's a popular player in the clubhouse, and David Wright asked to borrow his puka necklace the other day to wear during batting practice. Asking him to be a starting second baseman at this level, however, may be a little much after logging one full season at Double-A and another 65 games at Buffalo before his promotion.
"Everything here is an adjustment," Tejada said. "I need to make adjustments every day."
The switch to Castillo could signal a move on Manuel's part to give him more playing time. Or at least look for more favorable matchups for Tejada rather than just using him as the everyday second baseman.
"I think what happens is if you're winning, you continue [with him]," Manuel said. "When you begin to struggle as a team, and not win, then you have to check out all the other options and see what's best and how it can get going."
